VINDICATION! In May, the DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, decided that if an alcoholic beverage is made from a glutenous grain, that it cannot be labelled gluten-free if it is sold out-of-state. Specifically, the policy says that an alcoholic beverage cannot be labelled gluten free under the following conditions.

An ingredient that is a prohibited grain (wheat, barley, rye, or crossbred hybrids of those grains);

An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has not been processed to remove gluten;

An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has been processed to remove gluten if use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 ppm or more gluten in the food; or

20 ppm or more gluten.

Ever since I became aware that I was gluten intolerant, I have looked for the hidden gluten in things. Of course, in the beginning I was getting glutenated every time I turned around. One night, almost two years ago, I had had a vodka and juice and suddenly I was having a gluten attack. I remember thinking “what could be causing this? I’m been good and haven’t had gluten.” As I was doubled over, walking toward my bedroom, the thought occurred to me “wonder what vodka is made out of?”

Instead of going to bed I began googling alcohol and gluten. I discovered that most vodka today is made from grain. Even some of the gluten-free alcohol lists have erroneous information on them (in my opinion). Much of the information says that the fermenting /distillation process gets rid of the grain. Anyone who has ever done a science experiment knows that not every science experiment works 100% of the time. I remember having a six-pack of beer and some bottles out of the same six-pack bothered me and some didn’t. So my hard and fast rule has been that if it was made from a gluten grain, it was off-limits for me. Sadly, I poured that bottle of Grey Goose down the sink.

What is safe? There are some things that are readily safe. Here is my list, but it is far from complete. You may have to google some things yourself.

Armagnac

Brandy

Champagne

Cognac

Grappa

Kahlua

Ouzo

Rum

Sake

Sparkling wine

Tequila

Vermouth

Vodka – potato only

Wine

Now let’s look at liqueurs.

Absinthe

Advocaat

Amer Picon

Aperol

Averna

Benedictine

Blackberry Liqueur

Calvados

Carolans Irish Cream

Curacao

Frangelico

Grand Marnier

Grenadine

Kirschwasser

Limoncello

Midori

Navan

Patron XO Cafe

Pernod

Pimento Dram

Pisco

Raki

Reishu

St. Germaine

Strega

Tequila Rose

Triple Sec

Tuaca

Ty Ku

I would say that my list conforms with that of the FDA and the DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. I looked at all of the GF lists online, and then I deleted about half the alcoholic beverages on them. So many people are still under the misconception that all of the alcohol turns and is therefore safe. Many of the lists include all types of beverages that when the ingredients are examined, contain obvious flaws. I personally would rather err on the side of caution. Grey Goose be damned; I want no accidental glutenation at all. I also did not include beers, since there are many beets that advertise themselves as GF. I felt that finding which beers are GF was a fairly easy thing to do; finding out which alcohol is GF is not so easy.

There are many things that I did not include. For example, I did not include Creme de Menthe or Amaretto. Those particular liqueurs use grain non-specific grain alcohol, and therefore, I could not advocate drinking them. I do have a recipes for homemade liqueurs. Write me or just keep an eye on my blog.

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15 thoughts on “Alcohol (Gluten-Free)”

Sorry to break it to you, but many wines are not gluten free. After the mad cow scare, wine barrel makers switched from animal-based caulking for the cracks in the barrel to plant based – usually wheat gluten. Go for unoaked wines and you should be safe. Happy drinking, and thanks for all your hard work on this list!

Are you sure it was the wine or did you possibly get crosscontaminated in some other way? What did you eat? Do you eat out or cook in? I would need more information before I could say one way or the other.

It is possible that wines were sealed by wine paste or that gluten was used as a clarifying agent. It’s probably this particular wine or brand. I have had no problem with wine (knock on wood) so just keep track which ones bother you.

I just found this list and really appreciate you putting it together! I see you say just potato for vodka. I’ve recently been reading about corn vodkas, specifically Smirnoff, but haven’t gotten to a liquor store to check out the label (which, as you probably know, may or may not be helpful). Have you found seen any other info about corn vodka?

I’m happy to have discovered your blog and look forward to seeing what you have to say in the future. Good luck with your studying!

This is a great blog and very helpful post. Thank you! I, too, used to think grain alcohols were fine because they were “just ethanol.” But after realizing that I’ve been reacting to them, I’ve since discovered that there are many avenues of contamination in the manufacturing process. Now I am shocked at how many sites will tell you that bourbon, for instance, is gluten-free, when manufacturers commonly add caramel color or even undistilled grain mash to their products, just as blatant examples. Since I didn’t react with my usual GI symptoms (initially), it took me a long time to figure out, so I’d advise everyone to BEWARE! And thank you again for this post (and the one on wine, too)!

I have a couple of questions I wonder if you can shed light on. What about the reposado tequilas and/or mezcal–do they add color? Is it a problem that they are frequently aged in old whiskey barrels? I’d like to branch out from tequila blanco, but now I’m scared! 🙂 I’ve read that Kahlua contains vodka as well as rum, so that may be something to be aware of.

Kaluha is not gluten free. I have a severe reaction to any grain even is it is distillers. I just had a whit Russian and all my gluten symptoms are flooding back. Just looked it up on their website. They use a grain distillers from wheat!!! : ( !!

1. The word is “white” not “whit.”
2. There is no grain in Kahlua. It is distilled from sugar cane. http://www.kahlua.com/ Sugar cane is not a grain.
3. So, since Kahlua is made from sugar cane, something else you ate or drank made you sick.
4. Obviously, you did not look it up on the Kahlua Web site, because if you had, you would have realized that sugar cane is not a grain.